Now that changing usernames is a possibility thanks to the almightly overlord Seeker, I, and some others, feel like there needs to be a way to keep it from getting out of hand. If people are requesting username changes willy-nilly, poor Seeks is gonna be drowning in work and it'll be confusing for everyone. I'm proposing a way we can try and manage this. Username changes should be more important than custom title changes, after all.

Here's my idea, which I've posted in other threads. I felt like I should probably make an official suggestion thread, so here you go:

(10-20-2016, 03:14 PM)Magpie Wrote: 17459

Maybe post requirements you have to fill? Like, if you make 200 posts, you can change your name once. 600 posts, you can change it again, and it keeps progressing upwards. That would also help promote forum activity?

Just an idea.

Then Razz mentioned that it shouldn't be able to stack:

(10-20-2016, 03:16 PM)RazJazz Wrote: 17460

That's a pretty nice idea, but I don't think it should be able to stack (i.e. I have 600 posts and can change my username twice)

(10-20-2016, 03:21 PM)Magpie Wrote: That's what I mean, it shouldn't be able to stack. For example:

Person A has reached 200 posts. They want to change their username to Fluffypants, which they can.
Fluffypants is at 600 posts now, but doesn't want to change their name. They carry on as usual.
Now, Fluffypants is at 800 posts, and wants to change their name to Poop, which they can.
Poop is now at 900 posts and wants to change their name again, but they can't. They've got to wait until they reach 1000 to change their name again.

Make sense?

And here's something Seer said:

(11-02-2016, 02:37 AM)The Seer Of Dreams Wrote: @magpie
that does sounds like a good plan for that. stacking thing too.

but i think that maybe a time limit would also be a good idea, it still keeps it as an important change instead of something like a signature or custom title, but won't have people excessively shitposting for post counts.
also someone who posts more frequently to sections that don't effect post counts, like me for example, would have more trouble reaching it, even if they're super active. (not that i ever wanna change my username, it's cooltastic)

In summary:

Every time you reach a certain amount of posts, you can change your username.

The post count 'milestones' can't be stacked.

There is a time limit for reaching each 'milestone' to change a username.

Since post counts only count in the Debate and Discussion and GF discussion sections, it would promote *non shitposting* forum activity and discussion.

How many posts would you need?
The idea I had was this -

200 posts - name change

400 posts - name change

600 posts - name change

and so on. In short, every 200 posts you can change your name.

But wait, it's Halloween/Christmas/Easter/Cat Appreciation Day and I want a special name!
My idea here was for certain holidays, such as Christmas or Halloween, we could have a special event where everybody, regardless of post count, have the option to change their username to something festive. To prevent people from abusing this, their names will be changed back to what they were shortly after the event is over.

But I'm a roleplayer!
I know we have several users on here who we know are active, but post mostly in the roleplay sections of the forum. That's fine! If they can prove that the majority of their posting are in the roleplay sub-board, and they have under 200 posts they may have a name change every 3 months (too soon? too late?) they are active.

(The roleplayer requirements are still being fully evaluated, so feel free to chip in with improvements.)

How will we keep track of this?
Simple! There would be a sticked thread, a bit like the custom titles thread where people will post their title change requests. There would be a short form to fill out when requesting a title change, one that would look something like this:

Current Username:Last Username Change Request: (this would be blank for the first change, or a link to the last name change)Desired Username:

Why a form? Why just not say 'hey, can you change my username to Harambe?'
Not only does the form make the thread more organised and keeps people from cheating the system, but it helps everyone keep track of who's who, and who they used to be. On the first, main post of the thread, there will be a list keeping track of everyone's name changes, somewhat like the Metapedia (but with previous and current names instead of bios).

This is idea is still getting some of the kinks worked out, and it'd be appreciated if you could let me know what you think, or tell me any ideas or suggestion to improve it.

for example here are all of my posts from the roleplay forums, both IC and OOC

by default, the search engine brings up 20 results per page. I've got 4 pages so that's about 80 RP posts for me

though personally, if it's going to be post-based, i think Random Stuff (barring Usergames) should be included because a lot of that isn't really shitpost-y
my favorite idea at the moment is just allowing one change every six months + holidays, since it's simpler, but either way works for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hmm, cool. That certainly makes things easier, and could also mean we could use a post-based system for roleplayers as well. Looking back on it, if we go down that road, it would also work if we included the Random Stuff section, like you said.

As I mentioned before, the main reason I'm going with a post-based system over a time-based one is to try and encourage forum activity. A time based one might be easier, but a post-basdd one might work better in the long run and give people more goals to work towards.

That could work, but the post requirements seems a bit small for beavers, especially in the earlier stages. And because the requirements to get another beaver increasingly get larger, it would make it harder for older users with more posts ATM to get name changes - plus, there's a limit to the number of beavers you can get (I've got the max).

I'm not sure what the intervals for getting each beaver are, but going by that would impose a maximum number of username changes since you can't get more than like 5 beavers (and the changes wouldn't stack). so even if someone had 5000 posts and hasn't changed their name since they hit the last beaver, they don't meet the requirements, and they're stuck with that name forever despite their continued posting. and yeah, 5 changes is a lot, but the forum is getting older (when was it founded? 2012?) so I think the system should plan for members who have been here for a long time and might end up cycling through different names.

@Magpie yeah that is a good point, post-based probably would be better in the long run